A Shade of Black
by Black Dragon 42
Summary: Verasha Kozlov is an ex-SHIELD agent and assassin. She has extraordinary abilities, but left 10 years ago. Now with Loki's attack, SHIELD wants her to come back and help. She reluctantly agrees, but wants to leave very soon. Can a promise to a dyeing friend and renewed relationship with an old friend change her mind about leaving? Rated T for swearing.
1. Profile

Name: Verasha Kozlov

Nickname(s): V, Vera

Codename: Shade

Age: 30

Date of Birth: January 5th

Astrological Sign: Capricorn

Gender: Female

Hair: Luxurious, Straight, Mid Back Length, Dark Sienna

Eyes: Almond Shaped Electric Green

Skin: Cream Colored

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 140 lbs

Scars/Tattoos: Medium sized scar on left shoulder. 4 bullet scars on right hip. Burn scar on left arm. Swirl markings on shoulders that go down to elbows, on both sides of lower abdomen and sides of both calves down to knees (not tattoos).

Likes: Sour foods, sea food, bourbon, science, art, painting

Dislikes: Rap and scream-o music, politics, being underestimated

Good Traits: Responsible, Loyal, Patient, Ambitious, and Resourceful

Bad Traits: Distrusting, Stubborn, Vicious Temper

Association: S.H.I.E.L.D., Avengers

Weapon(s): Double Katana, Two Pistols

Power(s): Can blend into her surroundings and shadows (skin turns black), night vision, heightened senses and reflexes, some magic

Extra: Half Human, Half Vasgardian. Best friends with Tony Stark. Ex-girlfriend of Ivan. Former SHIELD Agent/assassin; left 10 years ago.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Verasha Kozlov is an ex-SHIELD agent and assassin. She has extraordinary abilities, but left 10 years ago. Now with Loki's attack, SHIELD wants her to come back and help. She reluctantly agrees, but wants to leave after. Can a promise to a dyeing friend and renewed relationship with an old friend change her mind about staying?

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own the Avengers, only my character.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_*Dream*_

I felt as if I was floating; unable to feel anything but my own body. Slowly, I opened my eyes, and was met with darkness. Looking all around, there was nothing anywhere; just black space.

'_Where am I?'_

I then felt energy appear behind me. Turning around, my electric green eyes found a floating cube that was pulsing with blue energy. The thing looked familiar, like something I had seen when I was at SHIELD; however, I just could not place it. The energy felt similar to what my father used to give off.

The pulse got brighter as the energy in the cube began to spike. I had to raise my hand in order to shield my eyes from the light. My shoulders began to feel warm, and it was steadily getting hotter with the energy of the cube. Looking down, the marks on my shoulders and arms were glowing the same color as the cube. I checked to see the same thing with the marks on my legs and abdomen.

_'What's going on?'_

As soon as the thought left my mind, the warm feeling turned into burning fire. My legs gave out and fell to my knees in pain; this had never happened before. Refusing to scream, I bit my lip and looked up at the cube. It was glowing brighter, and the energy swirled around it like lightning.

The energy grew and then exploded; blinding me. The pain became even worse, and a scream ripped through my throat in agony.

_*End Dream*_

I sat up in my bed with a start. My breath came out in rags, and my body was covered in a cold sweat. My arms, abdomen and legs still stung as I worked to get the sheets off. The swirl marks on my body still glowed a light blue; which slowly dimed before disappearing.

Lying back down, I focused on trying to control my breathing. I placed the back of my hand on my forehead as a million different questions swirled around in my head. What was that? Why did it look so familiar? Why did my marks react like that? What exactly happened?

I looked over to see what time it was; 4:50 am. Groaning, I got up and went to take a shower. The warm water woke me up and relaxed my tense muscles. After my shower, I blow dried my straight dark sienna hair, and fixed myself breakfast before getting dressed for work.

I put on a violet, pussy bow silk blouse and black suit pants. Putting on my favorite pair of violet peep toe heels, I grabbed my purse, car keys and black belted coat before leaving my apartment and slipping into my emerald green Jeep Wrangler. I pulled out of the parking garage and drove towards my job; the dream most prominent in my mind.

'_Where have I seen that cube before?'_ I asked myself, but shook my head in an attempt to get rid of the image.

_'It doesn't matter,'_ I argued trying to reason with myself. _'The cube doesn't concern you. If you really did see it when you were with SHIELD, then it's their problem, not yours.'_

As I pulled into the parking lot of the research lab and into my spot, I let out a heavy sigh. I hoped greatly that I had a load of paperwork to do.

You're most likely wondering what I do. I work as a supervisory researcher at a clean energy research lab of Stark Industries in New Jersey; courtesy of Tony Stark himself. Tony and I have been best friends since college, so when I got my doctorate, he offered me a nice office job at one of his research labs.

I walked in and straight to the elevator, being one of the first people there. I walked down the hall to my office, unlocked the door, and turned on the light. A light smile came to my face as I saw two stacks of files on my desk; the perfect way to distract my mind from my dream. Closing the door and hanging up my jacket, I walked over to my desk, and putting my purse in one of the drawers, I sat down and got to work.

* * *

Walking back up to the lab after my lunch break, I had a smile on my face. For some reason, I always felt better after lunch. I smile at the front desk secretary, Lisa, who smiles back.

"Um, Dr. Kozlov," she starts, and I paused in front of the desk. "There's someone waiting in your office."

I raised an eyebrow. "Did they give a name?"

"They said that they're from SHIELD," she replied, looking at her computer. "They didn't say anything else."

My eyes widened for a moment and my body froze. Mumbling my thanks, I quickly go onto the elevator, and waited impatiently to get to my floor. Why would someone from SHIELD be here now?

I took a deep breath, and composed myself before the doors opened, and I walked down the hallway to my office. Opening my office door, I took notice of a familiar figure standing at the windows; his hands folded behind his back. He turned around to look at me with his one eye as I closed the door.

"Nick Fury," I greeted in monotone as I moved to my desk. "To what do I owe the honor?"

Fury strode over to my desk – for once wearing a suit – and held out an open folder to me. "We need your help," he stated simply. "This was taken."

I took the folder from him and shifted uncomfortably at what was in it. The file was on the Tesseract; the cube from my dream. Breathing a heavy sigh, I lightly tossed the folder down on my desk. "I should have known better than to think this was going to go away that easily," I mumbled, running a hand through my hair.

"You've seen this before?" Fury asked concerned.

I collapsed on my desk chair. "A dream I had last night, and my markings also reacted to it," I replied. "So, what do you want me to do about it? Because, this has nothing to do with me anymore."

I closed the folder and handed it out to him. Fury took the folder, but instead of leaving, he sat down in one of the chairs opposite my desk and put his elbows on his knees. I glanced at him from the report in front of me. He was staring at his hands, and looked to be debating something with himself. I sighed again before signing my name on the report and placing it to the side.

"Listen," I said. "I left SHIELD over ten years ago; that makes this none of my business."

"I've raised this to a level seven, Vera." I froze at my old nickname; Fury never used that nickname where I was at SHIELD. I looked up at him as he continued. "We are at war; and, we need your help."

The look in his eye was practically pleading with me, which was something you don't see at all. My gaze drifted to his eye patch, the memory coming back to me of what happened. I met his gaze once more, then down at the report in front of me. I put the pen in my hand down, and leaned back in my chair.

"So, who is this bastard anyway?"

"His name is Loki."

I look at him with that. "Asgardian?"

He nods. "He came for the Tesseract, but we don't know what he's planning to do with it yet. He even turned Agent Barton and Dr. Selvig into his personal…," he struggled to find the right words.

"… Flying monkeys?" I offered.

Fury thought for a moment, and then chuckled while nodding. I gave a small smile. I had stiffened slightly when I heard that Clint Barton had been turned. He and I had been in a relationship when I was with SHIELD, but I broke it off when I left. However, in those ten years, I've turned down every single advancement from a guy. I just couldn't bring myself to move on; I never wanted anyone else.

"So, who else are you bringing in?" I asked trying to change my minds train of thought. Fury looked at me in confusion, but I could see the surprise in his eye. I scoffed. "Come on Fury. Just because I've been out of the game for ten years, that doesn't mean I've let my skills get dull."

Surprise flashed across his face before a smirk replaced it. "Captain Steve Rogers, may be Tony Stark, and hopefully Dr. Bruce Banner."

"Hopefully?" I repeated.

"Agent Romanoff is supposed to convince him to help us. He's currently in Calcutta," he replied smoothly. "We need him to track the cube."

I nodded in understanding. Dr. Banner was the expert when it came to gamma radiation. I wasn't really looking forward to seeing Natasha again though. She had been really mad at me, and not just for leaving but breaking Clint's heart as well. Shaking my head, I stood up and walked over to where my coat was. I began to put it on as I spoke.

"I need to change and get a few things. You can call a jet to pick us up on the roof of my apartment," I instructed more than informed. A light chuckling brought my attention back to Fury as I grabbed my purse from my desk.

"What's so funny?"

He smirked and shook his head slightly. "You haven't changed." I laughed lightly as I walked toward the door with Fury following. After turning off the light and locking the door, I turned to him and smirked.

"Did you really expect me to?"


End file.
